


All I Need to Hear is That You're Not Mine

by okaynextcrisis



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 05:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8784577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okaynextcrisis/pseuds/okaynextcrisis
Summary: Qui-Gon and Tahl attend a festival, protect a princess, and get themselves into trouble.  Pre-JA.





	

“I was making it look convincing,” Qui-Gon argued as Tahl pulled him along (none too gently) by the hand, past a stand piled high with the bounty of this world’s growing season, fruits and vegetables of every size and shape and color. Some of the varieties Qui-Gon recognized from other planets; some were unique to Chii’a Prime.

In other circumstances, this was exactly how Qui-Gon would have chosen to spend the day. It was a beautiful morning, the slight wind blowing air just cool enough to be refreshing, the light of Chii'a Prime's pale sun warn on his face. Farmers had brought their crops from all over the planet, their stands side by side with craftsman and artisans proudly displaying their wares. On the stages set up throughout, dancers gracefully moved their bodies through the traditional dance of their planet, and singers joined their voices in celebration of the abundance before them and the community who had worked together to create it. The air felt clean on this planet, carrying the scent of dirt and fresh produce, smoke and frying oil from the food sellers.

“Inquiring about the exact details of their fertilizer methods doesn’t make us look like locals, it makes you look strange,” Tahl countered, the bright, cheerful smile on her face belying her long-suffering tone. “Our mission is to protect the Princess as she makes her tour of the Harvest Festival without alarming the population with extra security, not to suss out the secrets of compost farming.”

“I’m sorry you’re not capable of both,” Qui-Gon replied archly, holding out his arm.

“When they finally do expel you from the Order—next month, probably—perhaps you should come back here really immerse yourself in that manure, where you clearly belong," Tahl said sweetly, winding her arm through his.

She leaned against him, and they slowed their pace, just a normal couple enjoying the Harvest Festival together. Maybe they'd bring home fresh vegetables and cook a meal together tonight; maybe they'd share sugar-coated doughy monstrosities they both had sworn they wouldn't touch.

"We never worked out a proper backstory, you know," Qui-Gon observed.

Tahl lifted an eyebrow. "You need narrative to walk around vegetables?"

"I do," Qui-Gon confirmed, although alone he wouldn't have bothered. Detailed and ridiculous stories for characters in undercover missions had always been their game. "Are we married? Are we in love? Are you planning to leave me for a comfortable but loveless marriage to a tech tycoon who will take a suspicious number of business trips?"

"I wasn't, but all that time you spent talking about fertilizer convinced me," she replied.

The Princess paused at a stand ahead of them, cooing over a display of bright green berries. Qui-Gon sensed no immediate danger.

"We met...at last year's Harvest Festival," he tried out. "We had too much of the fermented nerf's milk and woke up married the next day."

"I think it's interesting that your first thought about our relationship is 'terrible drunken mistake,'" Tahl observed.

"You have a better one?" Qui-Gon challenged.

Tahl tilted her head, the way she did when she was considering a sabacc hand or calculating a hyperspace jump. "You were the hitman I hired to murder my unfaithful husband so I could take over his corporate empire."

"I think it's interesting that your first thought about our relationship is 'would he kill a man for me,'" Qui-Gon grumbled.

Tahl flashed a smile. “I know what I’m worth.”

Qui-Gon had been all over the galaxy, from the Temple to the Outer Rim, from Coruscant to the edge of Wild Space, and there was no one who had ever made him laugh the way Tahl did.

Her arm tightened on his. "Up ahead," she said in an undertone.

He followed her eyes to a tall man with copper-colored hair and a contemptuous frown on his face. "The Prince's chief minister. If he sees us..."

Both Qui-Gon and Tahl had gotten an uneasy feeling about both the Prince and his aide, although it was so far unclear if they were involved in the threats against the Princess or if it was just the plotting and undercutting of normal politics. So far, they’d kept their presence on this world a closely-guarded secret, known only to the Princess and a few trusted aides, but if he saw the Jedi here, he would know that an investigation was underway. The palace servants would no longer be so free with their information, once they’d been warned that outsiders were snooping around. The true culprit would more closely cover their tracks. The Princess might be forced to send them back to the Temple, and her would-be assassin would be free to act.

Perhaps called by the force of their combined gaze, the minister's head turned, his eyes narrowing in their direction...

Quickly, Qui-Gon reacted, taking Tahl's face in his hands and pressing his mouth against hers. Her lips were soft against his, giving, and he felt his face growing uncharacteristically hot, the moment stretching on just a beat too long. He realized, too late, that he had lost track of time, and his surroundings, and had no idea if the minister was still watching them, or had long moved on...

Perhaps...perhaps there had been a more prudent alternative for obscuring their faces from view.

Gently, Tahl pulled away. The minister was nowhere in sight.

He cleared his throat, knowing he had to say something but completely baffled as to what that might be. "Tahl..."

Her mouth quirked in a smile. “I’ll give you this much,” she said, her eyes already scanning the crowd for the Princess’s whereabouts, “it was _convincing_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title borrowed from Tegan and Sara, because I can't title. Based on a tumblr prompt.


End file.
